Burning of Lanark

The Burning of Lanark occurred in 1297 during William Wallace's guerrilla war against the English occupation of Scotland. Lord Dolecroft, an English nobleman, was dispatched with a force of knights to raze Lanark after King Edward I of England left the  Scottish situation in the hands of his son Edward of Caernarvon (as he left to campaign in France). The English razed the town, and Lord Dolecroft later led his knights in pursuit of a small group of Scottish soldiers. They found the Scots cornered in a valley, and Lord Dolecroft demanded to know where Wallace was; however, a stone was thrown at his helmet, and Wallace and his scores of men lined the cliffs above them. The English force's fate was unknown, either being massacred or captured. The Scots then returned to Lanark and slaughtered the English troops stationed there, continuing the guerrilla war.